Luxury Only

SOURCE www.motortrend.com

Using evidence from Autoblog, a leading online blog for anything car related, in an article titled “Six luxury-car features that I’m ashamed to admit I love,” as well as information from Jalopnik, a website built for those obsessed with everything car related, in an article titled “The Ten Most Ridiculous Luxury Car Features,” I argue that the future of luxury design implements amenities that sound completely absurd, like lamb’s wool floor mats, but make the luxury experience much more enjoyable and comfortable.

Nowadays, economy car brands like Toyota and Kia are attempting to penetrate the luxury car market by offering optional features that make their more affordable cars more luxurious. Luxury car brands like Mercedes, Rolls Royce, and Porsche are now responding to this competition and are beginning to offer truly luxurious features. I’m only going to examine a few of these luxury features because there are just too many features to cover them all.

Rolls Royce’s “Starlight” headliner and lambs wool floor mats

Rolls Royce, the epitome of luxury, is now offering a few features that sound completely unheard of. Rolls Royce is now offering a “Starlight” headliner in certain models. This headliner lines the entire roof of the interior of the car, and during the night time this headliner turns on and makes it seem like you are sitting under the stars, as small lights appear and bring back those childhood memories of shining a flashlight through a pasta strainer during the night. Rolls Royce is also offering lambs wool floor mats. Yes, floor mats made from lamb's wool. No more needs to be said about this feature. It is so luxurious that anyone would be tempted to drive barefoot, as the floors are lined inches deep with this soft material.

Mercedes Benz seats and granite trim

Mercedes Benz is offering massage capabilities built into their seats. But if that isn't enough, Mercedes has now installed air bladders in the sides of the seats that automatically inflate or deflate to help keep the passenger as stationary as possible when cornering. No need to worry about sliding around in your seat anymore. And why spend money on a massage after a long car ride when you can just get a massage during the car ride? Thats right, certain Mercedes models have built in massage functionality. It gets better. Mercedes also offers optional granite trim in the interior of the car. Instead of the standard wood or carbon fiber trim outlining the various features of the car, the car will be outlined with granite. And the engine definitely has enough power to account for this extra added weight, as granite definitely isn’t the lightest rock.

Going on about various other luxury features would just be redundant, as it is clear that the features outlined above definitely aren’t necessary features; that’s why they are in the luxury category. Such plush features like lambs wool floor mats or massaging seats are distinct features that luxury car companies like Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce are using to separate themselves even further from the economy car competition.

Future research: In my next blog post, I will answer the question,”What different marketing strategies do luxury car brands use to make their product more appealing than economy cars?”